NEW YORK - Four-time regular season champion Denver was picked first in the BIG EAST Men’s Lacrosse preseason poll a fifth time in 2018 as the unanimous favorite among the league’s head coaches. The Pioneers’ No. 1 pick was supported by the preseason selections of both Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year. Sophomore attackman Ethan Walker earned preseason nods as Offensive Player of the Year while senior faceoff specialist Trevor Baptiste earned Defensive Player of the Year nods.
Villanova was selected second in the poll with 21 points and received the remaining first-place vote, while Providence, the 2017 BIG EAST tournament runner up was picked third with 16 points. Rounding out the league’s preseason standings were Marquette, the back-to-back BIG EAST tournament champions, in fourth (14 points), Georgetown (nine points) and St. John’s (five points).
Denver has been undefeated in conference play for the past four years with a 21-0 BIG EAST slate. The Pioneers were selected in the top five in three national polls to start the 2018 season (No. 3, Nike/US Lacrosse Magazine; No. 4 USILA Coaches’ Poll; No. 5 Maverick/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll).
Along with the preseason coaches’ poll and awards, the BIG EAST also released the coaches’ picks for the preseason All-BIG EAST team. Of the 19 players, 12 were unanimous in a positional roster that included two goalkeepers, four attackmen, five midfielders, four defenders, a long stick midfielder and two faceoff specialists. The all-conference team voting includes an at-large selection.
Preseason Offensive Player of the Year Walker was the unanimous pick for 2017 BIG EAST Freshman of the Year. Walker was also a 2017 All-BIG EAST First Team selection in his rookie season as he scored 40 goals in 17 starts. Walker led Denver in points with 72, adding 32 assists to his goal total. Walker boasted a 71 percent shots on goal percentage as 66 of his 90 attempts were on target. Walker also picked up 25 ground balls. In league games last year, Walker led the BIG EAST with 6.0 points per game (30) and 3.20 assists per game (16). His 2.80 goals per game ranked third in the conference. Walker helped lead Denver to the national semifinals. Walker scored twice in the 9-8 loss to Maryland, the eventual national champions. The attackman was also honorable mention for USILA All-America honors in 2017.
Baptiste, the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year is the reigning three-time BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year. Entering his final season with the Pioneers, Baptiste’s career faceoff win stat of 879 leads the NCAA career leaderboard. Baptiste ranks second in career ground balls (481), ground balls per game (9.25) and faceoff win percentage (.705). In 2017, Baptiste was a Tewaaraton Award Finalist for Player of the Year and was a USILA First Team selection as well as a unanimous All-BIG EAST First Team honoree. In his junior season, Baptiste led the BIG EAST in conference play with 59 ground balls, 11.80 per game. Overall, Baptiste led the league with 178 ground balls, 10.47 per game. Denver’s primary faceoff specialist had a .744 faceoff win percentage.
Both Walker and Baptiste were among the12 unanimous selections to the preseason All-BIG EAST team.
Along with the Denver duo, the Pioneers’ boasted four additional players on the preseason All-BIG EAST Team, with three unanimous selections, midfielder Colton Jackson, defender Dylan Gaines and long stick midfielder Sean Mayle. Jackson and Mayle were 2017 All-BIG EAST First Team honorees. Junior Jackson, a 2017 USILA All-America honorable mention, had 28 points with 23 goals, five assists with 10 ground balls and two caused turnovers. Senior Mayle picked up 38 ground balls with eight caused turnovers. Gaines, a junior, played in 12 games, started 10 and picked up 16 ground balls with 13 caused turnovers. Midfielder Connor Donahue started all 17 games and tallied 26 points on 11 goals, 15 assists. Denver finished 13-4 overall last year overall.
Second-place pick Villanova, who went 9-6 last season, 4-1 in league play, had three players selected to the preseason All-BIG EAST team. Two of Villanova’s selections, Christian Cuccinello and Devin McNamara, were unanimous selections. Cuccinello, a senior attacker, was a first team All-BIG EAST honoree in 2017. Cuccinello led the league in assists per game with 2.07 per game (31). Cuccinello tallied 64 points during his junior year off 33 goals, 31 assists. Three of his goals were game-winners. In league play, Cuccinello put up 25 points (13G, 12A). McNamara was a second team selection in 2017. The midfielder scored 14 goals last season with 14 assists for 28 points. Senior attackman Danny Seibel scored 26 goals and added eight assists for 34 points last season. Seibel also collected 26 ground balls. Villanova was also ranked in the national preseason polls. The Wildcats were ranked 20th in the Nike/US Lacrosse Magazine poll.
Providence, the coaches’ pick for No. 3, finished third in the league last season with a 3-2 BIG EAST record, 10-7 overall. The Friars had three players selected to the All-BIG EAST team with a pair of unanimous picks, returning BIG EAST Goaltender of the Year Tate Boyce and senior defender James Barclay. Boyce was a unanimous first team honoree in 2017 as keeper of the year. In a league-high 1006 minutes in goal, Boyce boasted a league high 8.05 goals against average and .569 save percentage. Boyce also had 10.47 saves per game. Barclay started all 17 games and picked up 36 ground balls with 13 caused turnovers. Senior midfielder Conner Byrne was also selected to the preseason team. Byrne was a second team pick in 2017, grabbed 40 ground balls and contributed 13 points (9G, 4A).
Two-time BIG EAST tournament champion Marquette was picked fourth in the league standings. The Golden Eagles finished 8-8 overall, 2-3 in BIG EAST play. Marquette graduated a core group of veterans that included USILA All-American Ryan McNamara, Andy DeMichiei and Joe Dunn. Marquette returns preseason unanimous pick Nick Grill, a sophomore defender. Grill was an All-BIG EAST selection last season as he notched 15 ground balls and nine caused turnovers. Senior goalkeeper Cole Blazer also returns as a preseason pick, he was also a second team honoree last season. Blazer boasted a 9.17 goals against average, a .521 save percentage and 9.25 saves per game. Faceoff specialist Zachary Melillo, another preseason selection, ranked second behind Baptiste in ground balls with 52 (5.20 per game). Melillo boasted a .522 faceoff win percentage. Marquette was also ranked nationally, No. 15 in the USILA Coaches’ poll and received votes in the Nike/US Lacrosse Magazine poll.
Georgetown, picked to finish fifth, finished with a 4-10 record last season, 1-4 in the BIG EAST. The Hoyas return two unanimous preseason All-BIG EAST selections in junior attacker Daniel Bucaro and senior midfielder Craig Berge. Bucaro was a 2017 All-BIG EAST first team honoree, while Berge earned second team accolades. Bucaro finished last season second in the BIG EAST in goals per game with 2.86 (40) and fifth in points per game with 3.79 (53). Berge notched 26 points with 14 goals and 12 assists while picking up 28 ground balls.
St. John’s finished sixth last year with a 1-13 record, 0-5 in league play. Red Storm sophomore defender Pat Smyth was honored as a preseason All-BIG EAST selection. Smyth grabbed 26 ground balls in his rookie season with St. John’s and started all 14 games. He also caused 11 turnovers.
BIG EAST men's lacrosse action officially starts Feb. 3 when Providence travels to Boston University and Villanova visits Penn State. The first big Saturday of will be Feb. 17 when all six teams are in action. League play gets underway April 7. The 2018 BIG EAST Championship presented by Jeep will be hosted by Villanova, May 3 and 5.
Follow all the action for BIG EAST men’s lacrosse this season with the hashtag #BIGEASTmlax.
2018 Preseason Men’s Lacrosse All-BIG EAST Team and Awards
Preseason Offensive Player of the Year
Ethan Walker, Denver, So., Attack
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year
Trevor Baptiste, Denver, Sr., Faceoff Specialist
Preseason All-BIG EAST *
^ Tate Boyce, Providence, Jr., GK
Cole Blazer, Marquette, Sr., GK
^ Daniel Bucaro, Georgetown, Jr., A
^ Ethan Walker, Denver, So., A
^ Christian Cuccinello, Villanova, Sr., A
Danny Seibel, Villanova, Sr., A
^ Colton Jackson, Denver, Jr., M
^ Craig Berge, Georgetown, Sr., M
^ Devin McNamara, Villanova, Grad., M
Conner Byrne, Providence, Sr., M
Connor Donahue, Denver, Sr., M
^Nick Grill, Marquette, So., D
^Dylan Gaines, Denver, Jr., D
^ James Barclay, Providence, Sr., D
Pat Smyth, St. John’s, So., D
^ Sean Mayle, Denver, Sr., LSM
^ Trevor Baptiste, Denver, Sr., FOS
Zachary Melillo, Marquette, Sr., FOS
Preseason Coaches’ Poll
First place votes in ( )
- Denver – 25 pts. (5)
- Villanova – 21 pts. (1)
- Providence – 16 pts.
- Marquette – 14 pts.
- Georgetown – 9 pts.
- St. John’s – 5 pts.
^ - denotes unanimous selection
* - due to a tie in voting, there are 19 members on the all-BIG EAST preseason team